Punishment and Rewards
by Paige M. Carter
Summary: Daddy's home and rewards and punishments are going to be dished out. Spoilers for the end of Season 5


Heaven wasn't the chaos Castiel had expected it to be. The Host was torn over what to do, the Apocalypse hadn't ended the way anyone had expected it to, Michael was in hell with Lucifer, but Father was back and He wasn't happy with how His children had set the Apocalypse in motion. Those who had lost faith and had helped Michael get things in motion were cast down, others demoted. Those who had remained faithful were rewarded; Castiel was made an archangel and the leader of the Host after Gabriel, who'd been raised after Father returned, had turned down the job, saying he wasn't a fighter.

After that was all straightened out, there came the knotty problem of what to do with Michael, Lucifer and their vessels. Since Adam Milligan had already been dead when Zachariah raised him, and he'd really been a fairly innocent victim in this whole mess, the decision was made to pull his soul out of Hell and put him back in Heaven with his mother. Michael and Lucifer were to remain in Hell since as far as Father was concerned, Michael had been just as rebellious and disloyal as Lucifer by starting this.

That just left the problem of what to do with Sam Winchester; the boy had fulfilled his destiny in that he said yes to Lucifer and started the Apocalypse, but he'd resisted Lucifer's promises and had sacrificed himself for his brother and the world. Most of the Host wanted to raise his soul from Hell and welcome him into Heaven as the hero he was, maybe even make him an angel, but Castiel and Gabriel advised their Father that that wasn't the best decision. They knew that the Winchesters would be miserable without each other. They argued that the best thing to do would be to get Sam out of Hell, take him somewhere safe where he could recover from his ordeal in peace and then arrange for the brothers to be reunited and after they died, give them the hero's welcome. Father, however, had a better idea, since this whole thing had been about choices, they'd get Sam out of Hell and let him decide if he wanted to go to Heaven as a hero or go back to Earth and do the hero thing later. Now came the question of who should get the honor of going to Hell and raising Sam. A lot of the Host, eager to prove their loyalty after the whole Apocalypse thing, begged their Father to allow them to go and retrieve Sam, but Father, rightly guessing that they'd try and get Michael out too and figuring that Sam would react better to familiar faces, asked Castiel and Gabriel to go get him, which they happily accepted.

The trip to Hell was hard and when they arrived, the place was even more chaotic than usual; the demons were enraged at being denied their battle and the unfortunate souls were paying the price. Castiel and Gabriel fought their way to Lucifer's cage and found Michael and Lucifer still arguing.

"Gabriel! Castiel!" Michael turned from his brother and stared at the two angels, "You're here! Get me out of this!"

Gabriel looked at him sadly, "I can't Michael. You're staying in there."

Michael was outraged, "What? You can't do that! Gabriel, let me out."

Gabriel sighed, "I can and I will. I'm under orders, Michael. You and Lucifer are to stay here."

Michael's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Who gave you those orders?"

Gabriel bit his lip, "Dad did." Seeing the surprise and interest on both their faces, he continued, "He's back and He's not terribly happy about what happened and He decided that you were just as rebellious and disloyal as Lucifer, so you get to spend eternity with him."

Michael snarled, "I did what He wanted! If that wasn't what He wanted, why didn't He stop it?" Before Gabriel could answer, Lucifer grabbed his arm and glared at Gabriel.

"It's a trick, Michael. This is another one of Father's tests to see if we'll give in."

Gabriel rolled his eyes, "You're right, Lucifer, it was a test, one that both of you failed miserably." Hearing Castiel call to him, he smiled at his brothers, "Well, I gotta go, got people to raise and reward. Have a nice eternity, boys." He turned from his brothers and rushed over to where Castiel had located Sam.

Sam was cowering in a corner, surrounded by countless demons, all of them taking turns taunting and beating him.

The two archangels moved quickly, pushing the horde of demons back with flashes of their hands and rushed to the human's side.

Sam fought at first, thinking they were demons but Castiel touched his forehead and knocked him out. They each hitched one of their friend's arms over their shoulders and headed for the exits. As they flew away, they could still hear their brothers shouting for them but they ignored them. Father had been right, it had all been about choices and their consequences. Michael and Lucifer had made their choices and now they were going to have to deal with the consequences for the rest of eternity.

As they exited Hell, leaving the lost souls and the demons and their brothers behind, the two archangels focused on the broken human they were carrying. They could both feel that Sam's recovery would be a long one no matter what he decided, but for now, they focused on taking their friend to the safe place that had been prepared for him so he could recover and receive the reward he so richly deserved and they looked forward to giving it to him.

The End?

Note: I might write more to this, let me know if you guys want more.


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